Dragon in Flight
by Tasiec
Summary: The task force stands still, shocked and mouths agape. Kid's newest stunt is truly something to behold, rivaling that of his teleportation and air walking, something that the officers will tell stories about for the rest of their lives. - A self-indulgent mess of a dragon!Kaito fic ( ᐛ 」 ) - infrequent updates, I apologize
1. Prologue

((A/N: Cross posted from AO3! It can be found here: /works/11156589/chapters/24895650 feel free to read on your preferred platform!))

* * *

His grin is wild, teeth glinting in the dim light of the roof tops of the city, eyes dancing with inner fire, and he launches himself back into a series of flips and twists right on the edge, elegantly, somehow not making a plunge down down down. It's unnecessary theatrics. Well, for the most part anyway. A stray bullet whizzes by, it's path clear simply because of the acrobatics. The wicked smile of the masked man's face grows and the fire from somewhere in the distant becomes heavier, and his skill in precariously keeping himself on the surface of the roof the sole thing keeping him alive. Literally dodging bullets was quickly draining away his energy, though adrenaline kept him going, and as he goes to change up his pattern, trying to remain unpredictable.

A glint of metal rips away a trailing piece of fabric from his costume, and the thief's anger grows. First the cowards commit such a crime, then they have him dancing like he's a _puppet_ , and now, they tore his costume! It was gonna be a bitch to get fixed. It's not like iconic costume were in short supply, but really, he needed the real thing, and getting the things made, or fixed for that matter, without gaining suspicion was enough to almost make him want to make the things himself.

The task force stands still, shocked and mouths agape. Kid's newest stunt is truly something to behold, rivaling that of his teleportation and air walking, something that the officers will tell stories about for the rest of their lives.

Because there seems to be an honest to God _dragon_ in front of them. A giant winged lizard _that does not exist_ but most definitely seems to be genuine, no projection could capture the sharp edges of hardened scales jutting out around joints and long, tapering horns like this. Finally someone screams shrilly, bolting off the roof away from the massive reptile and down the stairwell. It's pure white scales glint in the moonlight, the cobalt blue of it's eyes seemingly lit by an internal fire. It's taloned feet are planted firmly on the roof, wings tucked close against it's back. The dragon's head is cocked to the side as it stares at the officers curiously, craning it's neck downwards to sniff at a nearby policeman. He pales, holding still as if the beast is a t-rex and won't be able to see him if he doesn't move. The man's chest heaves with the force of his panicked breathing, the foul smelling breath of the dragon ruffling his hair just as Kid's voice seems to come from all around them.

"I see you've all met my friend. Don't worry about him, he's rather harmless." The reptile seems to perk up at that, making some sort of objectively happy and possibly agreeable noise. The thief's joyous laughter echoes around them before sleeping gas and smoke from hidden canisters surround the Task Force in a deceivingly bright pink, and they collectively collapse.


	2. Chapter 1

Shinichi peers at the odd small reptile in front of him, utterly baffled. Despite being only about the length of his hand, the creature has a ferocious look about it, but somehow manages to carry an air of joy and overall playfulness and child-like amusement. Well, in addition to looking extremely upset and unsettled that is. The pearly lizard's tail lashes like that of an irritated cat, and it seems to grumble rather frustratedly to itself. Or…himself? Herself? Themselves? The odd creature does seem to have a certain keen intelligence, and gives the impression that it would care.

Shinichi shakes his head quickly, banishing the odd thoughts. It isn't like him to so carefully pick apart meaningless things about an unidentifiable lizard he happened to come across on his way back home. After entering the mansion, he had carefully placed the agitated thing on the table to observe. Rightfully so at that, Shinichi has never even heard of a reptile like this.

Well, not like he's done extensive research on small lizards, but finding one that's such a startlingly white in mid-winter, while being cold blooded no less, certainly does get one's attention.

Shinichi carefully pokes at the reptile's side, getting a remarkably unimpressed look in return. It shifts, an oddly shaped bit of scale attracting his attention. There's little nubs of what looks like hardened scales on either side of the lizard's spine, a bit back from the joint of the front legs. How odd. As he reaches out with his pointer finger to gently brush against one, it swivels away and the reptile chatters at him, obviously annoyed. So not just a random piece of scale jutting out then, there are obviously joints and bone involved there. Shinichi pauses for a moment, silently staring at the creature while it just simply sits there and looks back up at him, as he debates whether to keep the creature inside for now to investigate and observe it or letting it loose outside. Maybe figuring out a way to haul it around and visiting the nearest pet shop is in his future. The first step to learning more about the strange white reptile is identifying what it even is, and for that he's going to need more than just 'white lizard with weird shoulder nubs'.

As he lifts his hands to poke at it again, something seems to draw it's attention, the lizard's rough right head jerking up, before being tilted to the side. Then, whatever had elicited the reaction must've... stopped? Left? Something along those lines, because the lizard just lets all the tension go in it's body, flopping onto it's belly with a huff. Shinichi hesitates for a moment, before gently moving his finger up to the reptile, tensed and ready to draw back at a negative sign from the animal. He gently places the digit onto the ridge of scales above one of the lizard's eyes, gently sliding it across the length of the ridge, the scale smooth while the rough edges are still detectable. In response, the animal in front of him manages to relax even further, omitting some probably happy noise before it stops suddenly, somehow managing a confused and hesitant expression before the sound resumes, the strange alarm passing. Shinichi frowns slightly.

"What are you?" He asks the lizard in a hushed voice, captivated already by the puzzle the creature presents. He swears the reptile shrugs before nuzzling his finger, nudging Shinichi's palm with it's nose. He resumes stroking it's eye ridge, scooping the animal up in his other hand, walking slowly out of the kitchen to the library. Shinichi carefully sits down in his favorite chair, comfortably worn and soft, settling his new reptile in his lap before picking up a nearby book, a piece of paper sticking out of the top. He cracks open the book, immersing himself into the story as his absentmindedly pets the lizard. It relaxes, settling in and stretching out contentedly. It makes that purring noise again, and slowly seems to warm, becoming a near radiator within the hour. Shinichi shifts uneasily. There's a small lizard fast asleep on him, and he doesn't want to disturb the creature. But on the other hand, if he waits much longer there's a chance of the reptile deciding to spontaneously combust. He knows it's a ridiculous concept, but there seemed to be no end to the reptile's exponentially growing heat. He scoops up the creature gently, cradling it for a moment, causing it to blink sleepily up at him right as he sets the lizard down onto the table beside his chair. It huffs at him, standing up before curling up into a ball on the cool wood. Shinichi eyes the strange animal once more, before immersing himself back into the story.

Later that evening, the sun having set hours before, the white lizard huffs noisily before launching itself into the middle of Shinichi's book, sprawling out to intentionally block as much of the pages as it could. At least, it sure seemed intentional. Shinichi gives the white reptile a scathing look. He was mid-chapter and was not going to stop in the middle of the climax; well, not unless a case came by or something.

The lizard just looks back up at him, projecting a clear intention of not moving. He goes to scoop it up, it simply barely avoids his hand, resuming it's sprawl. Shinichi sighs, moving the book out of his lap over the table, and tilts it. The reptile makes a startled noise as at slides down, plopping onto the surface with another sound, this time rather disgruntled. It simply picks itself up, and as soon as Shinichi turns to go back to reading, once again obscures the page. Shinichi tries a couple more times, intent on at least finished the chapter if this reptile is going to be so stubborn.

Shinichi sighs again, but this time making eye contact with the lizard. "If you're going to be like this, how about this? I'll figure out what you're trying to get me to do, but _first_ I'm going to finish this chapter."

The lizard eyes him suspiciously, as if it can understand, before picking itself up off the book and perching on the arm of the chair, peering at the text. Shinichi continues reading, getting lost in the story once again, and the mysterious reptile doesn't move. That is, until he goes to turn the page to continue reading, not realizing that the newest chapter title was emblazoned on the page. The lizard throws itself back on the book with a huff, seeming to glare at Shinichi.

"Okay, okay fine. What do you want?" At that moment, his stomach seems to more or less answer for the reptile. The cacophony it manages to make is astonishing, and the lizard gives him a rather annoyed pointed look. Shinichi sighs, remembering his promise to play a game of charades with the animal, though it seemed that perhaps it had just wanted him to... take care of himself? Or maybe it was hungry as well?

He scoops up the white reptile, having it perch across his shoulders and neck as he replaces his bookmark, sets the novel aside, and stands to move into the kitchen.

Shinichi opens a cabinet, hoping that he'd have something quick and easy. He stares blankly at the nearly empty space, the sad lone box of something or other not processing as it occurs to him he still has no clue what his new reptile friend eats. And beyond that, it wasn't even if there's was much for him to eat either. His mind finally catches up, sighing deeply.

"Guess we need to go shopping then, huh?"


	3. Chapter 2

The reptile stays wrapped around Shinichi's neck, attempting to push even closer to the source of warmth once he steps out into the chill evening air. He pauses, then turns to go back into the house. When he steps back out, the lizard is covered by a warm scarf, and seems much happier with it's position.

Tiny claws gently hang onto Shinichi, not piercing the skin, but with just enough pressure to help the small creature to stay balanced on it's precarious perch. For all that it was warm earlier, when it was asleep, the reptile's scales are cool now, leeching off of his body warmth to stay at a reasonable temperature. It doesn't seem very content, but enough so that it doesn't try bailing off him. Though if it did try, it'd probably be painful. By the feeling of the pinpricks, if the lizard needed to defend itself, for it didn't seem to be aggressive at all, it could do some damage.

It was a lot later than Shinichi had thought, leading him to stopping at a convenience store instead of a proper grocery store, stepping in once the doors slide open. The half-asleep cashier mostly mumbles some sort of greeting, and the lizard seems to perk up. It pushes it's head up out of the cocoon of fabric the scarf had made, sticking it's nose into the air, cool air hitting Shinichi's skin as it sniffs the air. The reptile seems to recognize what the building is, wriggling out of the scarf and making a flying leap onto a shelf that Shinichi is passing by. He gasps, spinning around to try to grab the creature, only for it to easily slip behind various candies and boxes to the back of the shelf. He keeps an eye on it, hoping for a break in the sheer amount of _stuff_ for a chance to grab the loose reptile. Said chance doesn't come until the lizard hits the end of the metal, where it decides to delicately step into a half-empty box and nudge a large chocolate bar with it's snout.

Shinichi sighs, scooping the lizard back up and tucking it into the fabric around his neck. It seems extremely pleased with itself, the deep rumbling starting up from it. He hesitates for a moment, shifting uneasily. Feeding an unknown creature chocolate seems to be a very obvious poor idea. But then again, it had sought the candy out. He picks up the bar before heading to the back of the store, hoping for a quick meal he can buy in addition to it. He spots multiple flavors of rice balls, deciding to grab a couple before heading to check out.

He feels the lizard shift in the scarf, scales rubbing against his neck as it moves. Shinichi pays for his few items, turning to leave when he hears an intake of breath from the drowsy cashier. He turns, looking at them quizzically before they notice how they are pointedly very much not looking at his neck. He reaches up, his hand coming in contact with a cool head, sharp ridges and everything. The small reptile had gotten it's head loose of the layer of fabric. Shinichi makes eye contact with the mildly disturbed employee, shrugging helplessly before leaving, bag of chocolate and rice in hand.

* * *

As Shinichi reaches the halfway point between his home and the store, a girl runs by, obviously upset by something. He breaks off another square of the chocolate, absent mindedly reaching up to feed it to the lizard. The girl glances at him as she passes by, coming to a halt as soon as she seems to process something.

"Kaito?" At her concerned question, Shinichi directs his attention to her, ignoring the reptile suddenly deciding to burrow into his scarf once again. He hadn't noticed when she went running past, but she bears an eerie resemblance to Ran.

"Where've you been? We've been worried about you!" The first couple comments seem to open the floodgates, and the girl begins to babble on and on, concerned for whoever she's looking for.

"Um...Excuse me? I'm not whoever you're looking for."

"I'm not letting you pull this one over on me again Kaito! Whatever reason you have for not coming home doesn't matter!" Shinichi is about to answer her again when he feels the reptile moving. Small claws gently scrape across his skin as it shifts it's weight ever so slightly. "Well? What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I'm sorry, I'm not your missing friend. My name is Kudou Shinichi. Would you like to come with me, see if I can help find him?"


	4. Chapter 3

((A/N: SO A MONTH LATER after _finally_ getting this chapter up - I finally catch a message from a kind reader letting me know the format just straight up died for some reason anD MY GOD IM SO SORRY I FIXED IT PLEASE DONT HATE ME))

"As if Bakaito! Stop playing dumb!" Shinichi shifts uneasily, slowly becoming even more at a loss of what to do with this girl.

His lack of response seems to anger her more, and she whips out her phone, holding it with a triumphant air in front of his face. The reptile along his neck, eyes barely poking out of it's scarf-den, stiffens, small claws tightening their hold. Something's obviously upsetting it, and Shinichi frowns slightly, craning his neck at a mildly awkward angle to glance at it.

It's eyes are wide, and he can feel it's tail flick like an agitated cat's. The reptile had been fine a moment ago, he glances back up at the girl, who looks confused and so so lost, and studies the phone. It just seems like something strange for the previously calm animal to be upset over. Sure, the fish shaped charm is a rather interesting choice, but he's not one to judge.

The lack of reaction from him seems to crush the girl, and he's sincerely not sure why. Before she turns away, he glimpses tears in her eyes and suddenly he's even more at a loss. He's never been very good dealing with emotions if not directly connected to a case, and Ran herself was bad enough. Let alone this stranger who comes so close to sharing her face.

On his neck, the small reptile makes a quiet, though high pitched, drawn out noise, obviously expressing something negative.

Seeing as it didn't seem to be trying to get away, it's not fear. When he glances at it, craning his neck at an awkward angle, it doesn't seem to be any more uncomfortable than when he'd found it earlier. If anything, the look in it's eyes are sad.

Shinichi reaches out, managing to brush the girl's shoulder as she turns to leave. She stops, but doesn't turn, shoulders shaking.

"This isn't the type of case I typically take on, but I'll do what I can." He's hesitant, acutely aware of the depressed lizard and sobbing girl, but at the same time, Kid's fearless grin appears in the back of his mind, and he can't quite place why. A knot tangles itself in the pit of his stomach, and he knows that something's wrong, something's out of place, and he's making connections, but it doesn't make sense, and his mind's making leaps and the puzzle won't come together.

Kid had just had a heist the night before, and nothing was out of the ordinary. Though, Shinichi himself couldn't attend because a corpse had literally fallen out of the sky. Again. But being mistaken so easily, by someone who obviously knows this missing person well, makes him feel sick. Though, surely, if he was being mistaken for a civilian Kid... No. The chances that he'd be incapacitated somewhere were low. Not impossible, but low.

Besides, it isn't like it's any of his business. Shinichi doesn't actually know Kid outside of heists. Of course, even with him trying to reject the creeping feeling, he couldn't help but worry for the thief. Throughout his... Conan situation, Kid had been one of the few who, even before he found out he wasn't a true child, had treated him with respect. And through that, they had managed a shaky pseudo-friendship, a bond of finding another person who held secrets that could never be seen in the light of day. And that, even if he had no right, was what made Kudou Shinichi finally search out Kid's civilian persona.

—

As Shinichi leads the girl back to his home, she stays silent. The look in her eyes is the one of someone who's lost something - or someone - dear to them. She's pale, almost sickly looking, and that just proves how much Kid must mean to her.

Which by itself is amusing in a somewhat twisted way. He absently wonders if she knows that her friend spends his nights stealing the most expensive jewels in the world. Or if it's a relationship like what his and Ran's had developed into; one of a secret almost out in the open, but either party refusing to confirm what they both knew. It could be possible that she didn't know at all, though he held a creeping suspicion that she, at the very least, had a clue, no matter how small.

He swings the gate open, and the girl seems to nervously look around, still staying silent as she fidgets. Shinichi slips in, waiting for the girl to follow. She hesitates, shooting him a nervous glance.

"Is this - is this really okay? I'm thankful you're willing to help, but..."

"There's no one staying here besides me." Shinichi makes the remark dryly. And then realized how bad that could sound to someone who should have no inclination to trust him whatsoever. Well, they were certainly just continuing to get off on the right foot, weren't they?

The girl is hesitant, but for some reason follows him through the gates, eyes steeled in determination. She observes her surroundings with a clear gaze, watching Shinichi's movements. It's obvious that if something happens here, if there's any sort of danger, she'll struggle. It makes him think of Ran. She trails behind him as he heads back to his chair in the library, momentarily forgetting about his reptilian passenger as he plops down, earning him a disgruntled huff and a momentary prick of claws. It settles again almost immediately however, and Shinichi turns his attention back to the girl.

"Who's the person you're looking for? You two are obviously close." The reptile snuggled against his neck, shifting it's weight between it's feet, almost kneading his skin in anxiety. Shinichi makes a valiant attempt to ignore it.

"He disappeared last night... Typically it wouldn't be a problem! He does it all the time! But Bakaito didn't even leave a message with Jii-chan..."

Ah. Kid had gone missing. Shinichi feels the knot in the pit of his stomach grow, and the deep sense of dread grows with it.

It still didn't mean that the thief was endangered, but it did mean something had happened. Then again, he could try to convince himself that this... "Bakaito", whatever his actual name was, wasn't actually Kid. Somehow he feels it's futile thinking that way. He tries to brush his feelings away, tries to focus more completely on the girl in front of him.

"Do you know where he was when he went missing?"

"There's a chance he went to Kid's heist last night, though he could've stayed home..." she trails off, realizing that no, she wasn't sure where her friend had gone off to before not returning. Shinichi fights the urge to roll his eyes or pinch the bridge of his nose. The girl's already upset and, even though he's not good in any way shape or form with someone breaking down in front of him, Shinichi understands that he shouldn't aggravate the situation.

A few more questions spring to mind, and to start any sort of investigation of this kind he'd normally have to ask them, but in this case, the missing person was in all likelihood the infamous phantom thief.

Even in his civilian life and with the closest of friends, Kid isn't the type to spread around whatever safe houses he has set up. There's no doubt that the man's the kind to prepare for every circumstance, and in doing so he'd only share that information with his assistant. Or assistants. There's always a chance that there's more than one, and he can't tell for sure, even if the thief himself makes a claim, unless he's involved with them. Which, to be fair, wouldn't be ideal.

Shinichi attempts to drag his attention back to the girl again.

"What's his name?" A part of himself seems to have been shocked about how easy that was, simply asking three words and being given the key to a part of the puzzle of Kid. Another part of him can't believe what he had just done. He had broken their unspoken truce, the understanding they'd come to after many encounters. Sure, it's out of concern for the thief's personal safety, but it's still a breach.

"Kuroba Kaito."


End file.
